Is tw’a… means ‘I guess…‘ or ‘It must be that…’.
Pronunciation
Is tw’a sounds like EES TUH WAH , except that the /t/ sound is made ‘popped’ (‘ejective’) by combining it with a catch in the throat (‘glottal stop‘).
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling
Structure
- Is comes from the auxiliary (‘helper’) verb i. In this case, the -s marks the presence of a ‘third person’ (someone other than you or me) who is the subject. In this case the subject is the understood ‘it’.
- T’wa means ‘maybe’, or ‘would be’.
- You can also say lis t’wa, using the auxilary verb li. This has the same meaning: ‘I guess...’ or ‘It must be…‘
- A related form is éy t’wa… – It would be good (if)…
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